5 Reasons to Avoid Coffee while pregnant

Avoiding coffee while you are pregnant could be beneficial for you, specially for usual coffee drinkers. Lets get it straight, Coffee means caffeine and caffeine means invitation to many health related problems. Norwegian researchers found that caffeine from coffee is highly affecting than caffeine from any other source including chocolate, cocos, soda drinks, Tea, cakes and desserts. But when it comes to a pregnant lady, the whole plot becomes more serious. Read below, some of the risks that a pregnant women can get due to drinking too much of coffee :-

Drinking coffee

1) Miscarriage Problems : American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that those ladies who drinks more than 200 milligrams ( around 2 cups) of coffee per day has more chances of miscarriage than the one who don’t. Actually, the caffeine intake should be limited. It could be in the form of coffee, soda drinks, chocolate etc. For those, who drinks around 8 cups of coffee a day, chances of miscarriage gets doubled. (Ref 1)

2) Undescended testicles or cryptorchidism :As a baby boy grows inside his mother’s womb, his testicles typically form inside his abdomen and move down (descend) into the scrotum shortly before birth. But in some cases, that move or descent doesn’t occur, and the baby is born with a condition known as undescended testicles (or cryptorchidism). (Ref 2)

3) Faster breathing and Heart rate :It also has been found that, ladies who consumes more than 500 mg of coffee a day (around 4 cups) has greater chances of a baby born with faster breathing and heart rates. This is certainly not good for a newborn baby, it keeps him more active and awake when he/she is supposed to rest a lot.

4) Smaller baby or Lighter baby :According to the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, women who drinks a lot of coffee increases the risk of having a smaller baby. Not only that, the newborn baby is more prone to heart disease, diabetes and Blood pressure related problems.

5) Longer pregnancy :Even a small quantity around 100 mg a day, can increase the length of your overall pregnancy period. Studies shows that a delay of more than eight hours is observed in concerned cases.

However, Caffeine takes much time to completely dissolve or absorb in the body and even more in case of a pregnant lady. It reaches the baby through placenta and since a newborn baby cannot process caffeine and it increases the stress hormones in the child. Therefore, whether you like coffee or not, you baby will never be able to absorb it and can be affected by it. So, is it really worth it ? You should be avoiding caffeine from all possible sources to keep your baby healthy and tidy.